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Shukhant Class Medium Cruiser
The Shukhant or Crescent Class Medium Cruiser, is the main front line Medium used by the Dominion and its Houses. A bulky heavily armed ship that still manages to be rather quick, other Factions see it as a generalist brawler design. While officially the main Medium cruiser of the Dominion, not all Houses are capable of producing or acquiring them due to their cost. The earliest iterations of the Shukhant were developed to help counter the Kilo class. Where the Helios excels in long range fire power and the Eminence favours speed over anything else, the Shukhant is intended to strike a balance. Powerful engines, tough armour and shields, and a threatening number of phase cannon arrays ensures that few can match it on even terms. They are seen as the pride of the Dominion fleets and the design is kept well up to date. Because of this the class has shifted considerably in appearance and capability since their creation. There are usually several variants in production at any given time due to infighting between Houses as not all have access to the latest upgrades. Weapons: *16x Heavy Phase Cannon Array *20x phase cannon House Jerik-Dremine once had several Shukhant class as part of their fleets but each were lost some time in the past century. Because of their cost and other shortages among the fleet they were never replaced. Rival Houses are known to have once blocked J-D from gaining access to more during a brief economic upswing before the Warlords began to impact shipping. History '1st Generation' Development of the early Shukhant initially began as a requirement of a plan to annex a section of Kavarian territory then built up forces to challenge the Ruling House of the ___ Dynasty. Development was put on hold when the Terrans inadvertently offended the Emperor triggering a war that weakened the dynasty enough for a coup to take place. A decade later a small number of the 1st Generation Shukhant were deployed after Houses began to face trouble with the Kilo class Medium Cruisers. While reasonably adequate the class soon saw a number of design changes and updates eventually leading to the 1.5 update which saw widened production. It was the 1.5 that earned the class much of its early fame and prestige thanks to its performance. Many of them saw use putting down rebellions after the initial conquest of Kavarian space. First generation ships faced direct competition from the Eminence class which has often been regarded as the lesser ship. '2nd Generation' A minor upgrade but marked as the beginning of a shift in appearance that would become more pronounced in the 3rd. Some 2nd, 3rd and 4th Generation models could be fitted with a small phased cannon based siege weapon. While much weaker than those produced by helios they could still be useful against static defenses and larger ships. A few of these were tested with some regularity against the TCS Terra Nova during the expeditionary wars. '3rd Generation' Seen as more of an experimental model the 3rd generation did not enjoy the same level of popularity as the 1.5 or second generation designs. Nevertheless they still were used as the basis of future designs. Roughly half of all 3rd generation models built later underwent conversion to 4th generation designs. '4th Generation' Completed in the midst of the expeditionary wars the fourth generation Shukhant took an exceptionally long time to reach full production. Despite a shortage of available shipyards during the period a substantial quantity still managed to be completed by converting older 3rd generation designs using smaller refit yards. While time consuming most Houses preferred conversion due to lack of resources. '5th Generation' Entering production just before the dawn of the Faction Wars, fifth generation designs boasted the heaviest armor seen on a medium cruiser. Advances in engine and repulsor technology also meant that there was little perceptible loss in mobility. With the expeditionary wars drawing to a close and the rise of industrial and population centers large enough to support new shipyards, the fifth generation Shukhant became the most numerous ever produced. Some have claimed that the threat of entire navies equipped with these new ships provoked the Rovinar into looking for a more immediate diplomatic remedy. One which ultimately made matters worse. '6th Generation' Treated as little more than a post Faction Wars update to the previous design, there is little to dissuade people from thinking so. In terms of combat performance there is little change, and with suitable upgrades fifth generation ships can fight nearly as well. Production and maintenance have both been simplified. Higher efficiency sublight and FTL drives also allow for longer range. '7th Generation' With the Neeran War raging and the threat of internal conflict at the highest in centuries, new models of Shukhant have been brought into service. New technology hase brought the class up to date, and while it may not be as spectacular as some ships produced by other Factions the Shukhant is once again ready to compete. External mounting points now give the class the ability to carry new Dominion built plasma cannons, though Republic built models can be substituted just as easily. Turret options remain limited for the time being but when equipped with four spinal mount Medium plasma cannons it allows them to rival even Shallan Mediums. Category:Starships Category:Medium Cruisers Category:Ships Category:Dominion of Royal Houses